(Newser)
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An archbishop and prominent critic of Robert Mugabe's regime has resigned his Catholic Church leadership position after being accused of having an affair with a married woman. Pius Ncube remains a bishop, and his supporters say they see the authoritarian Zimbabwean regime behind the scandal, which Ncube calls "a state-driven, vicious attack," the LA Times reports.

Mugabe is stepping up pressure on the opposition ahead of next year's elections, and critics see the scandal as part of a pattern. "The pain for people around here has been immense," one human rights activist said of the revelations. "I have not been silenced by the crude machinations of a wicked regime," Ncube said in a statement released yesterday.